With the increasing terrorist threat related to so-called dirty bombs, i.e. conventional munitions associated with nuclear materials, or for that matter the threat of the importation of small nuclear devices, the demand for a greater level of inspection of foreign cargo arriving in the U.S. has increased dramatically.
In the Port of New York, it is estimated that U.S Customs inspects only about 2 percent of the cargo that arrives from overseas. In view of the terrorist threat alluded to above, it has been argued that every container should be inspected, however it is further estimated that in the Ports of New York and New Jersey increasing the examination rate to only 5 percent would generate a backlog of 4500 containers monthly, require an additional 400 inspectors and cost industry and extra $1.2 million per month.
The current method of radiation detection for cargo containers involves the use of handheld detectors. In addition to the time involved in sweeping an entire container with a handheld device there is also the potential for the introduction of operator error into the measurements as techniques undoubtedly vary from operator to operator. Thus, even with currently available devices the problem remains one of available manpower to adequately accomplish the very large challenge of 100 percent inspection.
Thus, the availability of a device that would permit up to 100 percent inspection of incoming cargo containers for the presence of nuclear materials, i.e. materials that emit X-rays, neutrons and/or gamma rays would be highly desirable.